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Synergising

By Omiko Awa
27 March 2016   |   1:29 am
As the society, including campuses, are becoming complex and people changing some of the old ways they do things, it would be laughable to still hold on to conventions, while still expecting to have ...

Nigerian-students

As the society, including campuses, are becoming complex and people changing some of the old ways they do things, it would be laughable to still hold on to conventions, while still expecting to have an impactful life. If you want to excel in character, learning and business, you need to meet the right group of people and learn to think outside of the box.

Meeting people means synergising with others, not necessarily your course or schoolmates, but also people you know that have experienced different things in life that you can draw from to excel. You need to meet and synergise with people who would impact your skills to be a successful entrepreneur. To do this, it means one has to join skill-building associations like Photography Club, Rotaract, WETATi, Stockbrokers and others that would not only mentor members on financial literacy, but also teach and encourage them to start a business that would make you not only employer of labour, but to provide services to your community. These clubs are different from your normal academic or social-cultural clubs. They, in fact, go beyond the academic and socio-cultural to mentorship and, sometimes, bring young professionals from outside the school system to mentor members.

Here are four major reasons one needs to synergise:

• Sharing Vision and Goals: Synergising gives one a sense of purpose as to what he/she wants to be. It enables one to work to achieve individual or group goals. Setting common goals motivates one to work, especially where the right people are involved. Goals also create challenge, as it would make those that have tried particular project(s) and fail to tell others their experiences and how to avoid them. A team that has dealt with a trying situation and overcome it will have a stronger relationship experience to give out.

• Leadership and Following: Most times we lay emphasis on the importance of good leadership (the leader), but failed to identify that leadership is intertwined with following (the led). These clubs train members on leadership principles, giving them tasks that would enable them to overcome personal and business challenges. Some of the advantages members get are that these clubs serve as their primary market and can easily sell them to outsiders. Leaders monitor some of the activities of their members and sometimes provide leads. These groups build members to muster skills to be efficient and effective in their businesses and studies.

• Trust, Respect and Care: A caring person will be conscious of the impact of their action(s) on others. He/she will not only respect others, but would trust them. Some young entrepreneurs lack these virtues, which make them do things wrongly, including running their businesses with the devil-may-care attitude. This attitude makes them lose clients, especially when they do not have people (teacher figures) to correct them. Being a member of any of these skill-building clubs becomes a plus, as the patrons/matrons and trustees would join other resourceful persons often invited during meeting periods to mentor members to imbibe on these business virtues. Like another classroom, these clubs do give assignments or place members on exercises that would enable make them change negative attitudes that limit growth.

• Positive Environment: Like any good relationship, synergy is a constant process and must be properly managed. It is not a destination one embarks upon and halts at will. One has to take it as a never-ending journey, if he really desires change and wants to make the best out of it. However, doing this, effective communication is key. Also, conflict resolution cannot be far from it, as members with business interests often clash. An effective team is capable to resolve differences by allowing members, despite differences in skills, opinions, strengths, weaknesses and talents to contribute. Resolving team conflicts clearly differs from fixing a broken machine. There’s no surefire formula to do it; it’s not as straightforward as A, B, C. For synergy to thrive in a community, a positive teamwork culture is very important and engagement of members is encouraged. Being part of it would make you learn from the weak points of others and improve on yourself. Join one good club today.

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